Against Iowa State, Walsh went 32-of-47 for 415 yards with one touchdown and rushed for 46 yards with one touchdown. Unfortunately, after the game he was hurt with what was later deemed a season-ending injury.

Walsh did recover in time to make appearances in the Cowboys' games against Texas Tech and Baylor.

At season's end, he was named the Big 12 Offensive Freshman of the Year.

Duke Johnson, RB, Miami

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY SportsDuke Johnson

Miami running back Duke Johnson turned heads this year when he posted four games with at least 100 yards rushing. In the Hurricanes' last game of the season against Duke, Johnson had 16 carries for 176 yards and three touchdowns.

Johnson finished the year with 2,070 total all-purpose yards—947 of those were rushing yards, breaking Miami's previous freshman rushing record of 838 yards, set in 1999 by Clinton Portis.

As a specialist, Johnson's kick-return average of 33.04 yards led the ACC, and two of his kickoff returns resulted in touchdowns.

The speedster was tabbed both the ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year and ACC Rookie of the Year.

Devonte Fields, DE, TCU

TCU defensive end Devonte Fields made a huge impact in the Big 12 this year. Fields led his team and was second in the league this year with nine sacks.

Fields also forced two fumbles and led the Big 12 in tackles for loss with 17.5.

He was named the Defensive Freshman of the Year by Scout.com, Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press and was the unanimous pick by Big 12 coaches as the Defensive Freshman of the Year.

Marcus Mariota, QB, Oregon

Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota wasn't the projected starting quarterback for the Ducks in the preseason, but in Oregon's home opener against Arkansas State, Mariota silenced any doubters, going 18-of-20 for 200 yards and three touchdowns.

Mariota is an electric dual-threat; he was the Ducks' second-leading rusher (690 yards) and passed for 2,511 yards, 30 touchdowns and only six interceptions.

Mariota was named the Pac-12's Offensive Freshman of the Year and was the only freshman named to the coaches' All-Pac-12 team.

According to the Pac-12's official website, Mariota "is the first freshman quarterback since Todd Marinovich in 1989 to be named to the first team."

Johnny Manziel, QB, Texas A&M

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel has done what no other freshman has ever done in college football: take home the Heisman.

Manziel was also honored with the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award.

"Johnny Football" threw for 3,419 yards, 24 touchdowns, eight interceptions and rushed for 1,181 yards and 19 touchdowns. Manziel led all rushers in the SEC and set the conference's new standard of total offense with 4,600 yards.

Manziel was selected by SEC coaches to first team All-SEC and was named their SEC Freshman of the Year. He was also the Associated Press' SEC Offensive Player of the Year.